LEARNING ENGLISH FROM CARTOONS: THE SHOTGUN WEDDING.

This cartoon by John Cole, editorial cartoonist for The Times-Tribune is part of a collection of cartoons from The Cagle Post relating to President Obama's support for gay marriage. The Guardian explains the context:

Obama's announcement, in a hastily-arranged ABC interview on Wednesday, came after years of dodging the issue. He was forced to go public partly because Vice-president Joe Biden ignited the debate with a remark in support of gay marriage at the weekend.

In the interview, Obama said he had long supported civil unions but his position on same-sex marriages had been evolving because of the powerful traditions and religious beliefs attached to the word marriage.

LANGUAGE NOTES

1. A shotgun wedding is a wedding that has to take place quickly, often because the woman is pregnant. The cartoon implies that Obama was forced to come out in favor of gay marriage because of Biden's remarks, which is why Biden is portrayed with a shotgun for a mouth. The cartoonist may also have been thinking of the expression to shoot one's mouth off, which means "to talk too much in a loud and uncontrolled way".

2. If you are uncertain about the difference between the words 'marriage' and 'wedding', a good rule of thumb is that marriage refers to the institution and wedding to the ceremony. 

EXAMPLE:

• The wedding cost over $25,000 but their marriage lasted just a few months.

FROM: TheEnglishBlog.com 

Cartoon: Napoleon Obama

This  cartoon by Morten Morland from The Times is based on the famous  painting Napoleon Crossing The Alps by the French neoclassical artist  Jacques-Louis David.

The cartoon shows President Obama as  Napoleon telling his troops to 'go ahead', adding, 'I have to pop over to Oslo to pick up my peace prize'.

COMMENTARY

Obama will indeed be going to Oslo today to collect his Nobel Peace Prize. Many people find this award incongruous, especially following the president's decision to send 30,000 more US troops to fight the  war in Afghanistan. The cartoon highlights the  irony of the situation.

HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE

Following the  Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was imprisoned by the British on the remote Atlantic island of St Helena, where he died on 5 May 1821. I'm not sure whether Morten Morland envisages a similar fate for Obama if he loses the Afghan war.  Read more about Napoleon >>

Cartoon: Speed of Light Exceeded

This cartoon by Blower from The Telegraph combines two news stories: the experiment in Switzerland in which particles were found to have travelled faster than the speed of light and the global stock market crash.

A group of scientists (one of whom resembles Barack Obama) are looking at a giant computer screen, where a graph labelled 'Stock Market' has plummeted through the floor.

LEARNING ENGLISH FROM CARTOONS

This cartoon by Gary Barker from The Guardian is a comment on Western leaders' support for the Libyan rebels in their fight to oust the dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

David Cameron, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy are shown at a press conference saying in unison: "We are united behind the Libyan people's victory over oppression." However, each podium features the name of the national oil company (BP, Exxon, and Total), suggesting that the motive for these countries' involvement in the Libyan conflict has more to do with securing oil contracts than combating oppression.